‘Idol’ Winner Noah Thompson Parts Ways With Record Label (Exclusive)

Two years after winning “American Idol” and soaring to the top of the country charts, country singer Noah Thompson has parted ways with his record label.

A rep for 19 Recordings, the record label that works with “Idol” winners and other breakout stars from the show, confirmed with Heavy on May 20, 2024, that “Noah Thompson is no longer on our roster.”

Fans on social media have expressed concern about the 22-year-old in recent weeks, especially after he shared via Instagram on May 9 that his antidote for “when life brings you down” was to buy his first Harley Davidson motorcycle, posting a video of himself racing down a highway without a helmet.

Thompson is certainly not the first “Idol” winner to part ways with their original record label, but other recent alumni from the show, including Thompson’s runner-up, HunterGirl, remain on 19 Recordings’ artist roster.

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Noah Thompson Was Convinced by His Construction Company Colleagues to Audition for ‘American Idol’

Thompson, a native of Louisa, Kentucky, was 19 and a new dad when he auditioned for judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry, and Lionel Richie in 2021, urged to enter the competition by friends at  the construction company where he worked, including his best friend Arthur Johnson.

Thompson went on to win season 20 and saw his first single, “One Day Tonight,” soar to the number one spot on iTunes’ All Genres and Country charts, per 19 Recordings, and the song continued to rack up an average of one million streams per week through the summer. He also released a duet version of the song with HunterGirl, whom he became close friends with on “Idol.”

To capitalize on the momentum of his success, Thompson moved to Nashville in early 2023 to work with the label and local songwriters on developing his sound, while traveling back and forth to Kentucky to see his son, whom he shares with ex-girlfriend Angel Dixon.

A year after Thompson’s big win, 19 Recordings released his first EP, featuring six songs, called “Middle of Nowhere.” None of those tunes climbed the charts the way his first single did, but he toured throughout 2023 to promote the EP.

Thompson was still touring at the beginning of 2024, sharing an Instagram post in January of his band playing at the back of a plane full of passengers, delayed by a snowstorm. But after that, the singer got unusually quiet on social media, with just three posts to his Instagram feed between then and May 9, when Thompson posted about his new motorcycle and wrote, “When life gets you down, you buy a Harley.”

Despite no longer being on the 19 Recordings roster, Thompson does not appear to be giving up on music. Since mid-May, he has periodically posted in his Instagram Stories that he’s still in Nashville, attending concerts by other rising country stars, including Dalton Dover‘s Nashville set on May 21, and had a songwriting session with Luke Levenson, who wrote that they were “writing bangers.”

Update: On May 25, a rep for Thompson told Heavy via email, “Noah is currently in a transition period in his career but rest assured he is working on some of the best music of his career and will have lots of exciting announcements soon.”

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Multiple ‘Idol’ Alumni Are Still Represented by 19 Recordings

Thompson is not the first “Idol” winner to part ways with his record label since the show moved from FOX to ABC in 2018. Season 16 winner Maddie Poppe said she was devastated when Hollywood Records dropped her in 2020, and season 17 winner Laine Hardy announced that he had parted ways with 19 Recordings in late 2022. Season 18 winner Samantha “Just Sam” Diaz, meanwhile, has said she wound up “broke” after breaking her contract.

After years of rewarding “Idol” winners with a record contract as part of their prize, ABC partnered with 19 Recordings in 2021 to change its strategy, according to Billboard. The label is no longer obligated to award a full record deal to winners, and winners are not obligated to sign one.

Instead, 19 Recordings SVP Elissa Felman told the outlet the label provides development deals to winners and other promising contestants to help them craft their identity as artists, gain more experience on the road, and work on new music before a decision is made about granting them a full contract.

The company’s artist roster includes season 19 winner Chayce Beckham, whose country music career has taken off after three years of heavy promotion and year-round touring, including multiple tours with Luke Bryan.

In April 2024, his original song “23” — which he first performed on “Idol” back in 2021 — became his first number one hit on country radio, topping the Billboard Country Airplay Chart one day after the release of his debut album, “Bad For Me.” The song spent 60 weeks slowly climbing the charts, Billboard reported.

Season 21 winner Iam Tongi, a rep for the label told Heavy on May 20, is not part of the label’s roster. But 19 Recordings did just release two new singles for Tongi on May 24, covers of “Cool Down” and “Don’t Let Go,” for which it controls the masters. Tongi, 19, told Heavy the same day that he plans to release an EP of all-new music in June.

No other “Idol” winners are part of 19 Recordings’ artist roster, but the label does represent multiple recent breakout stars from the show. Thompson’s runner-up on season 20, HunterGirl, released her latest single, “Bad Boy,” on May 17 and is touring with Bryan and Beckham this summer. In 2024, CMT named her one of its “Next Women of Country” in 2024 and she made her Grand Ole Opry debut in March.

19 Recordings’ roster also includes several season 21 alumni, including third place finalist Colin Stough, who released his latest single, “Sober,” on May 24; top 5 finalist Wé Ani, who released her debut single with the label in January; and top 8 contestant Haven Madison, who signed with the label in December 2023, per Music Row.

Less than a week after Abi Carter’s season 23 win on “American Idol,” the pop singer is promoting her first single, “This Isn’t Over,” and told Heavy she will soon start songwriting sessions and plotting out her future.

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